A Celestial Legacy 1.1
That night Celeste dreamed.
She awoke with tears in her eyes. Bah, why did she have to dream about him now? It had been several weeks since that day, her life had turned upside down. She thought she had knew who Lanier was. She had loved him for years. How had she not seen him for who he truly was, until it was too late.
She sat up slowly. She couldn't be thinking about him right now. She would stuff those memories deep inside. It broke her heart all over again to have those thoughts so freshly re-awaken. How could she ever feel that way for someone again? Could she re-learn to trust?
She looked up to where the sun sat in the sky.
“I guess I better wake up, my carpool should be here shortly.”
She tried not to anticipate anything that would come from her first day at work. She knew all she could do was try her best, be friendly, and hope her skills would be needed here.
She stood up as her car arrived. It wasn't much to look at, it sounded awful, and for a split second she thought maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all. Maybe she could just live off the land, and avoid human interaction for a while.
She quickly changed into the provided uniform, mumbling to herself, “Here goes nothing!”
Butterflies flooded her stomach. That familiar anticipation of the unknown excited her.
She noticed the slight change in the air, as the rain clouds started to come in. At least she had made it through the night without it raining on her.
“Hi, I'm Celeste. Celeste Vela.”
“Yowza, lady. They didn't tell me I was picking up one fine mama this morning.”
Celeste smiled politely, she was sure he was speaking her language, but she wasn't sure how to take him.
“Aww a quiet one, are you? Thats ok, I can do all the talking for both of us. My name's Shawn by the way. I get the pleasure of driving lovely ladies to work everyday. But I've never seen you around Juniper Springs before. Did you just move here? Of course you did, don't know what I was thinking.”
He gazed at her for a moment before continuing on.
“WeatherMan said nothing about this rain today, of course he never knows what he's talking about anyways. Don't you worry tho, I'll have you to the station in no time, can't be late for your first day, now can ya?”
Before she could think of a response, they were off. Shawn drove like he talked, fast and all over the place.
She had flown with a few pilots that flew as recklessly as he drove.
In no time at all, Shawn was dropping her off at the front gate to the station.
“I'll see you tonight.” he told her as she got out of the vehicle.
“Thank you,” she smiled sincerely at him.
As he drove away, she heard him say, “Ah, HA! She speaks!”
She grinned and made her way into the building.
“So how'd it go, super lady?” Shawn asked as he pulled up to her lot.
Celeste gave him a big grin, “I got promoted! I couldn't believe it. They said that I was a prime candidate for the Academy, and they enlisted me first thing. I got my first paycheck and a bonus!”
“Thats great,” Shawn said. He seemed like a genuine person, so Celeste continued to babble at him.
“On my lunch break, which is a hour long by the way, I went over to this discount furniture store and bought some stuff. One of the girls in the office told me about it. I found a couple of things in my price range, but I couldn't afford much. Doesn't matter tho, I like seeing the stars at night. Reminds me of Home. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yak your ear off.”
She blushed, she had just mentioned Home to the first person here. Surely he would want to know more now that she had mentioned it.
“Did a lot of camping, did ya? Me dad used to take us camping all the time when I was a kid. Well hell I'm still a kid at heart, but thats besides the point,” Shawn said as Celeste slide out of the car.
“Something like that,” Celeste replied, she felt no need to continue a conversation that would lead to awkward questions.
“Thanks for helping me out today,” she told him.
“No problem, doll. I'll be right back here in the morning for your next shift.”
As Shawn pulled away, she smiled to herself. They had liked her. No one had seemed disturbed by her appearance. Apparently, there was a town not far away, that had some green people running around, so why not purple? She felt great. Her work day had quickly removed all thoughts of Lanier, and she intended to keep it that way.
While changing out of her uniform, she began thinking about where she was going to put some of the things she had brought home, when a glimmer of light caught her eye.
“Firebugs!”
Feeling quite ecstatic to see something so familiar, she quickly tried to gather then up.
She had no success, but it wouldn't dampen her mood. She was on top of the world.
She assembled her new bed, pushed the old couch into place,and set her new refrigerator down. She had even managed to come home with an old toilet, and bookcase. No more using the bushes for her!
She stood back to admire her handy work, and take in her meager surroundings. She smiled with glee, she might only have a few things, but everything that was here was hers.
Thinking about what to expect from her promotion, she got into bed. It sure was nice to have a bed to sleep in tonight, she thought. She had never minded having to rough it, but she enjoyed these small comforts.
She was asleep within minutes, eager to see what the next day would bring.
The next morning dawned, bright and early. There was still a bit of an overcast, which lead her to hope it wouldn't pour again all day. She wondered if she would have time to check the paper, when she saw the mail carrier heading her way.
They quickly exchanged greetings.
“Don't tell me I have mail already,” Celeste asked. “I've only just gotten my first toilet, surely I can't owe any bills yet.”
“You would think that wouldn't you?” Audrey Mason laughed. “I've seen them bill people a dollar just for setting foot on a property.”
“Well its a good thing that I got promoted then,” Celeste replied.
“That was really quick! Congratulations. Just don't go getting all high and mighty on us small folks when you make it to Captain Hero.”
“I'll try my very best to stay modest.”
“I haven't seen very many neighbors, yet.”
“Well thats because you chose to live way out here, silly. Most people live over on the main island. There are a couple of people who live here on this island, but round the other side.”
“Well that would explain it,” Celeste didn't bother to correct her. Choosing to live here was now her choice at least.
“Don't worry, tho. Its a great community. I've lived here all my life. Everyone is very kind, you shouldn't have any trouble fitting in. You ought to visit a couple of the community lots, see what there about. That way you'll get to meet some more of the locals.”
“Thanks, I'll try that.”
“Well, I best get going, I still have a couple stops to do. Then I get to hurry home and whip up some grub. We're having my husband's family over for dinner, and his mother always requests that I cook,” Audrey explained. “Of course, she never bothers to bring anything, but I don't mind. I really enjoy working in the kitchen.”
Celeste laughed. She liked Audrey, hopefully soon, they would become better friends. She might even have to ask her about her cooking skills. Celeste had never needed to know how before now. She had always been served food or rations and she was unfamiliar with the food sources on this planet. There was much to learn about this subject, she was sure.
As Audrey walked away, Celeste heard a car approaching. Expecting to see a familiar vehicle, she turned, only to be surprised by an unfamiliar one.
“Huh?”
She peered in the window, hoping that they hadn't sent someone new to pick her up. She had really enjoyed Shawn's company, and was looking forward to seeing him again.
But sure enough, he was there just as he said he would be.
She quickly changed into her newest uniform and climbed in the backseat of the car.
“New car, Shawn?”
“New job, new car. Consider it a perk of the promotion. No more driving to work in that rust bucket. Man do I hate taking that thing out! I feel like its going to fall apart whenever I drive it. So, how was your night? I see you got yourself set up a bit. I bet it was nice to have a bed to sleep in.”
As usual, Shawn monopolized the conversation all the way to and from work.
By the time she returned home, her ears were buzzing.
She had been told that day, she would need to start working out a bit at home. She knew she wasn't in the best shape of her life, so she spend the rest of the evening learning to “jump the rope”. She felt quite foolish but was glad for once that she didn't have any neighbors to spy on her. She enjoyed the quiet night as she started her new workout regimen.
For the next few days, she did little but eat, sleep and work. She hadn't thought about Home and was fast adjusting to life here, in Juniper Springs. She still wondered how she had managed to get so lucky, but as soon as this thought crossed her mind, she pushed it away.
“It doesn't matter how,” she said to herself. “It matters what I do with it now. I've got a fresh start, and I'm going to use it.”
Melena returned to her room after a long day of work.
It had been several weeks since the ship had left to take Celeste to her new unknown location. She had heard nothing to confirm that the ship had returned. She didn't dare ask, however. She knew any interest in that matter would only infuriate the Queen further.
Melena missed her dearly. There wasn't a day that went by that she didn't think of her friend.
That day replayed in her head all over again. The Queen had asked if she stood with Celeste... and all she had been able to do was to reply no, of course. What good would have come from her saying, “Yes, my Queen. Celeste is no murderer.” She would have been sent packing as well.
She hoped where ever Celeste was, that she was ok. That the guards had not taken it upon themselves, to kill her as she knew the Queen had wished. She wanted to do something. She hated being here. Everything through out the day reminded her of the friendship she had left behind.
She had to do something. Surely, she could find a way to get Celeste back.
She would not abandon her! She would find a way to make things right.
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Authors Note:
Thank you to everyone! I've gotten alot of great comments, and I really appreciate it.
The next time I post, it will hopefully be with some picspam to show off and talk about some of the things that happened to me, while writing this. ;) Might even be a spoiler or two.
Again thanks to all those CC creators out there, without your stuff my game would be empty! :)